Adolescent mothers have unique heaths needs compared to older mothers and other female adolescents (Aujoulat et al, 2010; Chablani & Spinney, 2011; Crittenden et al.2009,). Therefore,it is important for community development nurses to consider their specific needs when designing programs. This paper will identify the prevalence of adolescent motherhood in Saint John, New Brunswick and Canada. The challenges and problems that adolescent mothers face, along with the relevant health determinants, will be examined. Finally, local interventions and strategies the literature has identified as successful in improving the health status of adolescent mothers will be examined and critiqued.
Target population and epidemiology
The target population for this assessment is adolescent mothers aged 15 to 19. For this essay, adolescent mothers are considered to be between the ages of 15 to 19, unless otherwise stated. There were 15,570 live births to adolescent mothers in Canada in 2008. In New Brunswick, there were 488 live births in 2008 (Statistics Canada, 2008). Less than 5% of adolescents who become pregnant opt for adoption in New Brunswick (L.Smith, personal communication, September 21, 2011). The Health Indicators report showed that 28% of New Brunswick teenage pregnancies occurred in the Saint John area in 2009 (Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health{OCMOH}, 2011). The report also identified the teenage fertility rate in New Brunswick. This rate refers to the number of live births that occur to females aged 15 to 19 per 1,000. In Saint John, the fertility rate for adolescents is 43.7. This number is significantly higher than the national teenage fertility rate of 14 and the provincial fertility rate of 20 (OCMOH). Although Canada’s national fertility rate is less than half of the United States of America’s rate of 41, it is still higher than most European countries including France, which has a rate of eight, and the Netherlands’s rate of four (OCMOH). These statistics show a significant number of adolescent mothers in Saint John, New Brunswick and Canada, proving the need for health care interventions for this target population.
Determinants of health
To conduct a throughout assessment on the needs of adolescent mothers, it is essential to consider the determinants of health. Common problems this population faces include high drop out rates, depression, social isolation, repeat pregnancies, and less effective parenting skills(source). The determinants of health most likely to impact adolescent mothers include income and education, social support, personal health practices, healthy childhood development, and gender.Unfortunately, the literature mainly focuses on the negative health determinants for this group and neglects to concentrate on positive health determinants or assets.
Teenagers who become mothers have harsh prospects for the future. Teenagers obtaining abortions are 20% and girls under 15 accounts for 1.2%. They are much more likely to leave of school; receive insufficient prenatal care; rely on public assistance to raise a child; develop health problems; or en...
There is a phrase that people here time and time again, but don’t truly understand the meaning of it until the phrase can be applied to their own lives. “You don’t realize what you have until it’s gone.” Atwood’s poem is a direct reflection of this quote. Her poem “Bored” talks about how she hated the repetitiveness of her daily events with her father. But it was only until he had passed on was it that she truly did realize how much she missed those daily events. Sometimes people don’t understand how important others mean to them until it is too late.
“Everything is going to be O.K.,” my mother said, before walking into her bedroom and crying her eyes out. Throughout my teenage years I had it made. I had security, support of my family, and everything I could ask for. When I turned 16, I found out something that would change my life forever, I was pregnant. Being pregnant at a young age is a very difficult thing to go through. It can be hard mentally, financially and also physically.
As everyone knows, teen pregnancy rate is increasing more and more each day and someone needs to do something to try and either stop it or decrease it dramatically. Teen pregnancy is causing dramatic population increase and that’s just common sense. Teens getting pregnant at such a young age is also causing poverty levels to go up more and more. Mississippi Spent over $100 million on teen pregnancy alone in the year 2010 (“Teen Pregnancy”). Just think of what it is now. More teens are dropping out of school and not finishing their education. According to the authors of this article, “approximately 30 percent of teen mothers have mothers who dropped out of high school, 40 percent have mothers who are mothers who dropped out of high school, 40 percent have mothers who are high school graduates, and 30 percent have mothers who attended college”(Kearny et al 143). Many people don’t realize that there are many effects of teen pregnancy including higher risk of birth defect, more likely to drop out, and also abortion rates increase.
The female teen stares into the eyes of her newborn son, not realizing the type of life her and her son will have in the near future. Katrina L. Burchett excellently explicates teenage pregnancy among female adolescents living with domestic problems in her book titled Choices. The various elements that aid to the wide range of teenage pregnancies in the world should all be taken in to consideration. Getting pregnant at an adult is no longer substantial or conventional in our society. Everyday, female young adults are getting pregnant, which is why it is a social issue for the youth today.
The birth rate among teens in the United States has declined 9% from 2009 to 2010, a historic low among all racial and ethnic groups, with the least being born in 2010; and in 2011 the number of babies born to adolescents aged 15-19 years of age was 329,797 (“Birth Rates for U.S.”, 2012). Although the decline in unwanted and unplanned teen births is on the rise the United States continues to be among the highest of industrialized countries facing this problem. This is a prevailing social concern because of the health risks to these young mothers as well as their babies. Teens at higher risk of becoming pregnant are raised at or below the poverty level by single parents; live in environments that cause high levels of stress (i.e., divorce, sexual psychological and physical abuse); are influenced by peers or family members that are sexually active; and lack parental guidance that would direct them to be responsible and self-controlled.
Between 1996 and 2006, Canada 's teenage pregnancy rate steadily declined by 37%. However, since 2006, Canada 's teenage pregnancy rate has been on the rise, increasing from 27.9 pregnancies per 1,000 teens, to 28.2. This is of great concern to Canada, for teenage pregnancy has many health, social, and media issues. Therefore, teenage pregnancy in Canada requires a solution, that will prevent such pregnancies, and support the teen parents
Sometimes teen moms decide to not go to college and focus more on the baby or their plans to get married. Teen pregnancy statistics state that only one third of teen moms can even acquire the high school diploma and only a few get a college degree. The government plan welfare schemes to take care of teen mothers and their children. The low-qualified mother cannot get a good job and she completely depends on the state to overcome the financial distress. The annual expenses to fund the teen pregnancies cost around seven billion dollars. The government has to spend money on public assistance, child health care, and foster care to facilitate proper raising of the child. The teen mothers who do not receive proper financial support from her parents or her friends have to face a severe financial crunch. She has to face extreme difficulty to buy basic items for her newborn baby such as clothing and baby care products. Due to the lack of social support, the mother will suffer from huge emotional crisis due to lack of social support. She will deal with severe emotional and mental breakdowns that trigger the onset of unusual behavior like suicide attempts or attempting self-abortion. Many studies have concluded that teenage pregnancy directly affects teenage drug addiction rates ( 11 Negative Side Effects of Teen Pregnancy On
Children born to teen mothers are also twice as likely to be victims of abuse and neglect” In other words, due to the lack of education a teen parent tend to have, it will affect the child because the parent will not be to provide a correct one. Also, the majority of teen pregnancies tend to be unplanned. Therefore, children are who suffer since they were not desired hurting their esteem and assertiveness.
Perry, S., Hockenberry, M., Lowdermilk, D., & Wilson, D. (2010). The School-Age Children and Family. Maternal child nursing care (4th ed., p. 1093). Maryland Heights, Mo. Mosby Elsevier.
For many of the studies on teen pregnancy, Canada, England, and the USA are compared to each other because they have many of the same standards. “Despite declining birth rates over the past few decades, the United Stat...
Growing up I was always told to enjoy being young; now I see why. A plethora of young teens today become pregnant in high school. I just so happen to be one of those girls. I would have to say it was a life changing experience for me. As a result, the parallelism between the aspects of my life as a teenager and as a teen mom are stress, responsibility and my emotions.
The chosen health improvement initiative that is going to be studied within this community profile is reducing the amount of teenage pregna...
Mercer, R. (2004). Becoming a Mother Versus Maternal Role Attainment. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 36(3), 226-232. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.
Swann, C., Bowe, K., McCormick, G., Kosmin, M. (2003) Teenage pregnancy and parenthood: a review of reviews. London: HAD.